Page 10 - The Michigan Daily -- Monday, October 20, 1986
Iartin QThronicdes
By Adam Martin
Losing devastating...
...revenge is sweet
Final FG leaves
Hayden Fryed
' Revenge. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a
tooth. Blood for blood. Justice. Yeah, that's it,
justice.
It wasn't supposed to happen this way.
Michigan was supposed to simply beat Iowa, and
in so doing avenge last year's 12-10 loss at Iowa
City, the one that ruined the Wolverines' Rose
Bowl hopes. But Michigan got more than revenge;
they found justice. Poetic justice.
Last season all sorts of hard objects hit
the TV screens of Michigan fans when
Iowa's Rob Houghtlin booted the.
Wolverines out of the Rose Bowl with no
time on the clock.
After Saturday's 20-17 Michigan victory,
Hawkeye fans probably got violent. And yet that's
the beauty of it. Iowa and its faithful suffered
through the same heart-wrenching ordeal that Ann
Arbor experienced one year ago.
But pity is a nonentity here. Vengeance -
getting even - is the key.
"We wanted to make them feel like we
felt last year," said Wolverine cornerback
Garland Rivers. \"They broke our hearts.
They hurt our pride."
Funny thing, this getting even. A win should be
enough, but in some games, the most intense
clashes, just a win doesn't quite cut it.
"That's a ballgame we never should
have lost," said the often hateable Hayden
Fry, Iowa's head coach. "We just made
some critical mistakes. It was similar to
what we did to them last year. It's what
Bo said - 'We're even now."
Yeah, that's it Hayden, even.
The Wolverines got even. In fact, they might
have one-upped the Hawkeyes. Three years ago Bob
Bergeron's lst-second field goal put pain in
Hawkeye hearts as Michigan won, 16-13, in the
autumn drizzle. Saturday, Mike Gillette's boot
recreated Begeron's feat. Three of the last four Iowa-
Michigan games have been decided in the final
moment. And Wolverines decided two.
All the same, recent history is
foremost in the minds of Saturday's
victors, players and fans alike.
"Any time a team beats you twice in a row,
there's gonna be a revenge factor," said Michigan
outside linebacker Dieter Heren, who punished the
Hawkeyes with six tackles and two assists. "This
was the same as last year, but the teams were
reversed. And we came out on top."
Like the cherry, Dieter.
Michigan's victory was unquestionawny
sweet. There'll be no black and yellow in
Pasadena come January. Whether maize
and blue will appear isn't certain, but as
Bo Schembechler, Michigan's own master
of the football cliche, said: "We re in the
driver's seat."
Meanwhile the Hawkeyes just drove over the
cliff. Iowa may not lose another Big Ten game, but
if Michigan does the same, the Wolverines go to the
Rose Bowl.
Pasadena is two and half months away, of course.
"This is sweet, revenge," said
quarterback Jim Harbaugh, who threw for
225 yards in what was a mediocre 17-for-
28 day. "This really feels good, but we
don't have a lot of time to feel good. We
have some serious work to do."
But no matter how serious, or difficult
Michigan's next five games will be, none will be as
supremely satisfying as Iowa. Or at least until a win
assures the Big Ten championship.
Schembechler wants the conference crown badly.
He has not won the Big Ten since 1982, and so
prides himself on teaching un-believers about the
twists and turns of the Big Ten race. "On any given
day, any team can beat..." Yeah, yeah, yeah, Bo.
What about revenge? Bo quickly defers.
"I don't like to call it revenge," he said.
The players disagree. Because revenge is
unethical outside the stadium, they can only seek it
on the field. There, in the midst of battle, revenge
is justice. And when history repeats itself as it did
Saturday, it is poetic justice.
Said Rivers: "It's the best feeling in the world."
Yeah, that's it Garland, in the world.
(Continued from Page 1)
THE OFFENSIVE miscues
were left in the locker room at
halftime, though, as the Wolverines
came out and scored two quick
touchdowns in the third quarter.
Michigan drove 75 yards in 10
plays to open the second half. From
the wishbone formation, fullback
Gerald White caught a 25-yard pass,
powering his way in from the five-
yard line to tie the game at 10-10.
Five minutes later, Michigan
scored again, this time on White's
10-yard run. The touchdown was
the first rushing TD the Iowa
defense has allowed all year, and the
Wolverines' 193 yards on the
ground were the also most the 1986
Hawkeyes have yielded.
IOWA'S defense was without
standout tackle Jeff Drost. Other
injuries forced Fry to play second-
stringers.
"We went through everybody we
had on the defensive line," Fry said.
"I've never been more proud of a
team that's lost."
One player who was hurt but
saw action was quarterback Mark
Vlasic. The senior missed the last
two games with a shoulder
separation and led the nation in
passing efficiency before his injury.
Fry said that when starting
quarterback Tom Poholsky had
trouble in the first series of the
second half, he decided to replace
him with Vlasic.
POHOLSKY was effective in
Iowa's opening drive, leading the
Hawkeyes 80 yards in just nine
plays. Fullback Richard Bass
plunged in from one yard out to
give Iowa a 7-0 lead.
The Wolverines came right back
with a drive of their own, but had
to settle for a field goal when the
Hawkeye defense stifled them at the
36-yard line. Gillette made good on
the 53-yarder, breaking Bergeron's
school record of 52 yards set against
Washington in 1984.
After Michigan's two
touchdowns in the third quarter,
Iowa came back with a fourth
quarter score to tie the game at 17.
Vlasic found wide receiver Robert
Smith in the right corner of the
endzone and hit him with a 15-yard
strike.
ALTHOUGH all seven of the
game's turnovers could have been
pivotal, perhaps the most pivotal
was Bass' fumble with 1:57
remaining in the game. The
sophomore fullback mishandled a
pitch from Vlasic and Michigan
linebacker Andy Moeller smothered
it at the Wolverine 49. Michigan
used that possession to set up the
winning field goal.
"I have every reason to believe
we would have gone down there and
scored if we hadn't fumbled," Vlasic
said.
Schembechler saw the turnover
as a last-gasp opportunity to win
the game. "I thought we'd get down
in there and at least have a shot at
it. I didn't want to come out of
there with a tie."
Michigan promptly moved the
ball upfield, using mostly screen
passes to get to the Iowa 19 with
15 ticks left. The Wolverines risked
running out of time and sent White
up the middle for a two-yard gain.
"I don't think it was risky,"
Schembechler said. "If that clock
runs out here at Michigan Stadium
when they know I've got a timeout,
we'll get a new timekeeper."
I
Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY
Freshman wide receiver Greg McMurtry goes up for a desperation pass on the last play of
the first half Saturday along with Paul Jokisch. It was his only catch of the day, good for 46
yards in Michigan's 24-17 win.
His to repeats itse4[.-
Gillette redeems himself with
By MARK BOROWSKY
History is like a syndicated television
show. It just keeps repeating itself.
Three years ago, a Michigan kicker
who wore the number 19 lifted himself
out of obscurity by kicking a field goal
in the final minute to beat Iowa after the
Hawkeyes fumbled late in the game. He
earned the chance after another kicker,
Todd Scholpy, lost the job. His name
was Bob Bergeron.
LAST SATURDAY, another
Michigan kicker who wears the number
19 lifted himself out of obscurity with a
field goal at the end of the game to beat
Iowa after the Hawkeyes fumbled late in
the game. He, too, earned the
opportunity after the starter, Pat Moons,
lost the job. His name, if you were in a
cave somewhere Saturday, is Mike
Gillette.
In one, make that two, fell swoops,
the sophomore from St. Joseph made
history of the memories of Bob
Bergeron. First it was his 53-yard field
goal in the first quarter that eclipsed
Bergeron's Michigan record of 52 yards.
Then it was his 34-yard field goal
with no time remaining that beat the
Hawkeyes, 20-17. It was not the type of
situation those with lesser nerves would
enjoy, especially after Iowa coach
Hayden Fry called a timeout in order to
put the psychological screws. Pressure,
however, apparently is meaningless to
Gillette.
"YOU'RE NOT going to fluster
him," Michigan head coach Bo
Schembechler said of Gillette in
reference to the Iowa timeout. "He is the
cockiest guy that ever lived.
"I laughed and said,'They're trying to
ice you.' He said: 'Yeah yeah yeah."'
"I wasn't really nervous," Gillette
said. "I went over to the sideline and
just played cool."
THE KICK served as revenge for
last year's 12-10 thriller at Iowa City in
which Iowa kicker Rob Houghtlin won
the game at the end. But for Gillette, the
game-winning kick was vindication of a
different sort.
He was a starter last season but was
suspended before the Ohio State game
for training violations. He had not
kicked a field goal since the Minnesota
game in 1985, and had lost the job to
Moons.
But after Moons missed a 27-yard
field goal in the fourth quarter, assistant
coach Alex Agase told Gillette to get
ready. He had already assumed the long-
distance kicking duties. With five
seconds left, Gillette trotted out to make
another number 19 famous.
AS A freshman, Gillette kicked 16
of 23 field goals, but while his kicking
might have been accurate, his attitude
was out of line.
"Last year, my attitude was 'I kick
good, I get the job,"' said Gillette, who
also plays catcher for the baseball team.
I
Daily Photo by JOHN MUNSON
Mike Gillette boots a school record 53-yard field goal in the first quarter Saturday,
as Gerald White (22) blocks.
"This year I gave 200 percent."
Schembechler remembers last season
with his freshman kicker. "He (Gillette)
was just an immature freshman. Now
he's a mature, competitive sophomore."
Mature and accurate. With his two
kicks last Saturday, Gillette became
record-holder and hero, two titles that
almost never occurred because of his
suspension. Fortunately, Schembechler
(believe it or not) was the forgiving
type.
"I just glad that he (Schembechler)
eased up on me," Gillette said. "I love
the guy. and I wouldn't play at any other
university."
Not the.type of quote that is historic,
but the kind that Wolverines seem to
frequently repeat.
Blue Banter
- Gerald White's third-quarter called a tim
touchdown run was the first six- been the re
pointer scored on Iowa on the to heck w
ground this year. Last year, White (Parseghian
scored Michigan's only touchdown
at Iowa. Big T
- The Wolverines are riding the
crest of 12-game unbeaten string.
Their last loss was at Iowa last MICHIGA
neout and got it. If I had
feree, I would have said
with that. Probably Ara
n) was up there talking."
en
N
year.
- With tension increasing every
second before the game-winning
field goal, CBS got a television
timeout - to the dismay of Bo
Schembechler. "Can you believe
that?" Schembechler said. "TV
Minnesota
Iowa
Indiana
Illinois
Michigan St
Wisconsin
Purdue
Northwestern
Standings
Conf. Overall
W L W L
3 0 6 0
3 0 52
3 0 4 2
2 1 5 1
1 2 4 2
1 2 2 4
1 2 3 3
1 2 2 5
0 3 1 5
0 3 2 4
0
0
GRIDDE PICKS
Turn in your picks by midnight
tonight and win an FTD Pick-me-
up buquet and a free pizza from
Pizza Bob's.
1. MICHIGAN at Indiana
(pick total points)
11.
12.
Missouri at
Arkansas at
Kansas State
Houston
I
13. Kansas at ,Oklahoma
State
14. Southern Methodist at
Texas
Nor-- 'So
1I